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U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW INFORMATION
Copyright is a protection provided by
the U.S. copyright laws to authors of "original works of authorship"
--- title 17, U.S. Code. By the
terms "works of authorship," the copyright law means literary, dramatic,
musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Copyright
protection is available to both published and unpublished original works,
giving the author exclusive right to reproduce, perform in
public, or publish an original literary or artistic work --- sect. 106, 1976 Copyright Act.
However, in order for your copyright to be enforceable in a court of
law, U.S. copyright laws generally require registration of your
copyright.
The main purpose of copyright law is to protect authors of original works from
copyright infringement. The copyright law contains criminal remedies
which apply to certain types of serious copyright infringements or piracy.
The right of the copyright owner though is not absolute, as
there are certain limitations imposed by law on the enjoyment of
these rights. Sections 107 through 121 of the 1976 Copyright Act for
instance, establish limitations on these rights. In some cases these
limitations are explicit statutory provisions specifying exemptions from copyright liability. One
of the most important copyright limitation is the doctrine of
fair use,
which provides certain guidelines as to when it is permissible to copy
someone else's work without having to ask permission from the author (sec. 107, 1976 Copyright Act). The other
limitations may come in the form of certain licenses which allow
limited uses of the copyrighted work upon payment of
royalties as well as compliance with some accompanying legal
requirements.
How is copyright obtained?
Copyright is obtained
automatically the moment the work is created and fixed in a tangible
form such as in a copy or phonorecord. The author need not perform
any other special acts secure a copyright. However copyright
registration will give the author certain extra benefits aside
from added leverage against copyright infringement.
Here are some examples of works that are
protected by the copyright law:
- Literary Works - Books, pamphlets, product literature, instruction manuals, operation manuals, poems and other works consisting of text, including computer
programs or other electronically stored information;
-
Dramatic Works - Films, videos, plays, screenplays and scripts;
-
Musical Works - Compositions that consist of both words and music, or music only (note that lyrics only fall into the literary works category);
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Artistic Works - Paintings, drawings, maps, photographs, sculptures and architectural works.
Copyright also applies to all kinds of recordings, such as records, cassettes, and compact discs, which are called "mechanical contrivances" in the Copyright Act. There is a separate copyright for the musical work, for example, a song, and for the device, such as a cassette that produces the song. Separate protection exists because the song and the sound recording are considered to be two different works.
Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act provides:
"Subject to sections 107 through 121, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
-
to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
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to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
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to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
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in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
-
in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and
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in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission."
In addition, certain authors of works of visual art have the rights of attribution and integrity as described in section 106A of the 1976 Copyright Act.
What cannot be protected by copyright?
Several categories of material are generally not eligible
for federal copyright protection. These include among others:
-
Works that have
not been fixed in a
tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that
have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or
performances that have not been written or recorded)
-
Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or
designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering,
or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
-
Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts,
principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a
description, explanation, or illustration
-
Works consisting
entirely of
information that is common property and containing no original
authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight
charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from
public documents or other common sources)
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